The
B.S.
. We're going to use what's wrong and bad neck I'm wrong on that Nic
this show is going to be on the Pledge of Allegiance recently is
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts the highest court in Massachusetts heard
a case involving
a pledge of allegiance this was in state court the ruling will only affect the
state of Massachusetts the case had to do with taking out the words under
God in the Pledge of Allegiance I want to first get into some of the
history of the Pledge of Allegiance How did it come about when was the pledge
first written who wrote it what words were in it
you may be surprised to learn that when it was originally written the words were
not the same as they are today the official version of the prayer
in eighteen ninety two was this I pledge allegiance
to my flag and the republic for which it stains one nation
indivisible with liberty and justice for all. It was written
in eighteen ninety two in honor of the four hundredth
anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus
it was written by a minister
a Baptist minister his name was Francis Bellamy he did not
have in the original prayer the words under God even though he was
a minister he wrote the Pledge for the youth companion
a magazine that was published in Boston at that time the
prayer or the pledge it wasn't a prayer was
a pledge was printed on leaflets and sent to schools throughout the United States
later it was changed now at first when it was for us issued it was
issued to some twelve million American school children they re cited the pledge in
eighty ninety two and commemorate the four hundredth year anniversary or
Columbus's voyage in nineteen twenty three the
pledge was changed in one thousand nine hundred twenty three it was changed to I
pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands one
nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all what was the change the
only change was one word to to the republic again under God was
not in the pledge and this was the official pledge from eight hundred ninety two to
nineteen twenty two. In one nine hundred twenty three the pledge was
changed again this time it read I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States and to
a great public for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice
for all notice again not the words under God what words were added in one nine
hundred twenty three just these words the word the law. Flag stayed the same and
then they added Ah the United States so they added
a flag of the United States that may read the pledge in one nine hundred twenty
two and then in one nine hundred twenty three thousand nine hundred twenty two I
pledge allegiance to my flag and to agree public for which it stands one nation
indivisible with liberty and justice for all one nine hundred twenty three I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic which it stands one
nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all and it stayed that way from one
thousand nine hundred twenty four to nineteen fifty four now why did the change
take place in one nine hundred twenty three in one nine hundred twenty three the
flag of the United States replace the word my flag because some foreign
born people might have in mind the flag of the country of their birth instead of
the United States flag so one thousand nine hundred twenty four it was changed they
added of America after the words United States nineteen
forty two in one nine hundred forty two the pledge received official recognition by
the Congress only in one nine hundred forty two during World War two when the
pledge was formally included in the U.S.
Flag code. The flag code specifies that any future changes to
the pledge would have to be with the consent of the president of the United States
that was in one thousand nine hundred forty two that was the first time that the
pledge was formally included in the U.S.
Flag code and again it said any future change the pledge would have to be with the
consent of the president of United States one thousand nine hundred forty three
another change took place where
a episode in the history of the pledge took place in one nine hundred forty three
the US Supreme Court ruled that public school students could not be forced to
resign in the case West Virginia versus by net I want to repeat that in one
thousand nine hundred forty three day U.S.
Supreme Court of the United States ruled that public public school students could
not be forced to reciting the pledge the case was West Virginia versus by
net I'm going to talk about that case more later in one thousand nine hundred forty
five the official name of the Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in other words it
was not called the official name was not the Pledge of Allegiance until one
thousand nine hundred and forty five and now let's go to nineteen fifty four the
change in one nine hundred fifty four I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God in
the indivisible with liberty and justice for all what was the only change the only
change was under God. Until one thousand nine hundred fifty four for thirty years
it was I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for
all and now it reads I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
America and the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with
liberty and justice for all I am going to recommend on this show another change to
the Pledge of Allegiance I would like to pledge to read the following and then I'll
explain what the difference is I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States
of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under the US
Constitution in divisible with liberty and justice for all what's the only
change my own opinion I would take out under God and I would replace it under the
U.S. Constitution why the people who wrote the U.S.
Constitution would never have included under God God is not
mentioned at all in the U.S.
Constitution the people who wrote it would Davis many of them there were people ob
the in Lightman they were people who believed in separation of church and state in
fact the only mention of religion in the Constitution itself is no oath of office
has to be taken no religious oath of office so they never would have put in under
God into
a pledge of allegiance of course one did not exist at that time I would take out
under God and I would put out under the U.S.
Constitution of the United States indivisible with liberty and justice for all now
one thousand nine hundred fifty four what happened. After
a campaign by the Knights of Columbus the words under God were added by Congress
and signed into law by President Eisenhower in two
thousand and four another important date in the history of the
Pledge of Allegiance in two thousand and four the U.S.
Supreme Court accepted
a case easy am Grove United School District versus new
down new doubt that challenge the use of under God in the pledge but the
high court did not rule on the question they ducked the issue they did not want to
address it they wanted to find
a way out and they found it they did not address the issue of the words under God
they didn't decide whether the pledge is constitutional under the First Amendment
instead by
a five to four vote majority and how often have you heard the five to four vote
majority I always find it fascinating that nine people on the Supreme Court get the
same question hear the same arguments and base their decision on the lore and their
beliefs and they come out five to four so often there is room for disagreement and
a right by five to four they issued they did not have to decide the case because
Michael Newdow did not have legal standing to bring the case on behalf of his
daughter because he did not have legal custody of her it was his
daughter but he did not have legal custody the wife had legal custody. Yeah
four by five to four the Supreme Court said he didn't have standing orders standing
mean you know you or I cannot simply bring
a case to court we have to have standing the case has to affect us directly we have
to have some control he was bringing in
a case to court on behalf of his daughter but he didn't have custody of his
daughter therefore the court said he didn't have standing now if the mother had
brought the case to the Supreme Court then the Supreme Court might have said there
was standing for the mother and then the Supreme Court might have ruled but let's
face it they did not want to touch this issue five of them so they found
a way out he did not have custody therefore they did not have to address the
issue now two thousand and thirteen we now come up to today and
what is going on today well before we get to that I want to get into what one more
thing that I sort of passed over very quickly one nine hundred fifty four Why was
the pledge added in nineteen fifty four one reason for adding under
God was that some people wanted to distinguish the United States from communism.
Communism does not believe in God So we wanted to show that we were different from
them we believed and God Therefore we added the words under God to show the
difference between us and the and the Communists and that's why the words under God
were added in one thousand nine hundred fifty four but keep in mind from eight
hundred ninety two when the pledge was first written to nineteen fifty four the
words under God were not there and before nineteen eight hundred ninety two we
didn't have the Pledge of Allegiance so from the founding of this country in the
Constitution seventeen eighty nine to nine hundred fifty four there was no Pledge
of Allegiance which had under God we've only had that in relatively recent times
now before I get to the present case before the Supreme Judicial Court here in
Massachusetts it was just heard our the court can be expected to give
a ruling probably within the next three or four months the court had decided the
case had standing otherwise the case would not have been heard by the court but
let's go back to some earlier Supreme Court rulings before we take up what's
happening now in the year two hundred thirteen the Supreme Court has ruled
on several occasions that students cannot be compelled to reciting the pledge
or punished for not doing it cannot be punished for not reciting the pledge and
can not be compelled to say the pledge that is the U.S.
Supreme Court. Now again the Pledge of Allegiance was written in one thousand nine
hundred two by Francis Bellamy who by the way sort of interesting he was born in
eight hundred fifty five he died in one nine hundred thirty one so the pledge came
in that he wrote in one thousand nine hundred two and he remained here on this
planet until one thousand nine hundred thirty one he was
a Baptist minister as I said before he was
a Christian Socialists and the pledge was published April eighth eight hundred
ninety two in
a popular children's magazine called The Youth's Companion and again it was
part of the national public school celebration of Columbus Day
a celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbuses arrival
in the Americas the event was conceived and it was promoted as
a campaign to instill the ideas of American nationalism by selling flags to
public schools and magazines to students and the prayer I again I'm going to read
it again to you because it's somewhat different from what it is today but you heard
it here it is again I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it
stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all
notice there is no mention of some of the things we think of today like under God
for example the pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point Bellamy
wanted it to be reciting it in only fifty teen seconds that was intentional
he had initially also considered using the words equality. And for turn a T.
But decided against it knowing that the state superintendents of as you cation
on his committee as part of
a committee were against equality for women and African Americans this is
fascinating eighteen ninety two when the pledge was first written by
a minister without the words under God he considered putting in the words equality
and fraternity but he decided not to why because he knew that the state
superintendents of education that he was working with an eight hundred ninety two
they were not for equality for women women did not have the right to vote in the
all the United States the whole country until one thousand nine hundred twenty and
many of these superintendents were not in favor of equality for African-Americans
the Supreme Court case Brown versus Topeka the Board of Education was not two fifty
one nine hundred fifty four so the country was quite different in one thousand nine
hundred two from what it is today let's get back in one thousand nine hundred two
Bellamy had arranged for Congress at that time President Benjamin Harrison to
announce
a proclamation making the public school flag ceremony the center
of the Columbus Day ceremonies the pledge was first use in public schools on
October twelfth eighteen ninety two during the Columbus Day observances
organized to coincide with the opening of the world's Columbia exposition in
Chicago Illinois the Lady years to my flag were changed
to the flag of the United States of America. Because of the large number of foreign
children in our schools in one nine hundred twenty three the National Flag
conference call for the words my flag to be changed to the flag of
the United States so that new immigrants would not confess confuse loyalty
between their birth countries and the United States the words quote
of America and a quote were added
a year later in one thousand nine hundred twenty four United States Congress
officially recognized the pledge for the first time in the following form
on June twenty second one thousand nine hundred forty two I pledge allegiance to
the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands
one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all that's the pledge I said
when I went to elementary school I graduated from Oxford
Street Elementary School in one nine hundred fifty five only in the last year I was
there did I say the pledge with the words under God people my age in elementary
school during that time and the first seven years I was in the public schools and
said the Pledge of Allegiance it did not include the words under God until one
thousand nine hundred fifty four prior to that no one ever to get the pledge
officially amended succeeded there were other attempts to amend the flag between
one nine hundred twenty three and one nine hundred fifty four all those attempts
failed until nineteen fifty four. The phrase under God was
incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance in one thousand nine hundred fifty four
and there was
a very interesting development and I do want to go back to nineteen forty two
when nice States Congress officially recognized the pledge for the first time the
years important one thousand nine hundred forty two why because this year had not
only to do with the Pledge of Allegiance it had also the do with the salute to the
flag also nine hundred forty two keep in mind it's World War two We're
fighting eight off were fighting the Nazi party which controlled Germany
what was the problem the problem was that the pledge that we gave until one
thousand nine hundred forty two was almost identical to the Pledge of Allegiance
and the you know the flag salute that the Nazis were using we wanted to show that
was the difference between us and the Nazis so what Congress did in one thousand
nine hundred forty two they changed it not from this pledge but from this pledge to
hand over the hot that was changed in one nine hundred forty two so we would not
pledge our to our flag the same way the Nazi party was pledging to their flag and
to eight off history can be very fascinating I find out and for thirty four years
as
a history teacher in the public schools here in Worcester Massachusetts this hand
over the flag gesture as
a salute to the flag. Was put in it's
a different salute to the flag then Bellamy put in Bellamy's salute you know it was
like this but in one thousand nine hundred two it was the handing over the flag.
Remove all of the Bellamy salute he is the one who wrote the Pledge occurred on
December twenty second one thousand nine hundred forty two when Congress amended
the flag code language first passed into law in June twenty second one thousand
nine hundred forty two so we're talking not only about the changes in the Pledge of
Allegiance we're also talking about the change in the pledge to the flag in one
nine hundred forty the Supreme Court in
a case called mine is vill school district versus go protests ruled that students
in public schools in one nine hundred forty including respondents in that case
Jehovah Witnesses who considered the flag salute to be idolatry Jehovah Witnesses
can not say the pledge it's against their religious beliefs they believe it's
a salute to idolatry they believe in God They don't see the flag has been the same
thing they maintained they should not be compelled to say the pledge now what
happened a case went before the U.S. Supreme Court the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled at that time that they had to say the
pledge Well I should say that what happened in
a case in one nine hundred forty after that case there was mob violence
and intimidation against Jehovah Witnesses following the ruling in one thousand
nine hundred forty three when the Supreme Court made
a ruling in one thousand nine hundred only three years later in one thousand nine
hundred forty three the Supreme Court changed their rulings why and you might say
what's the big deal over the Pledge of Allegiance. Until you realize that you hold
the witnesses who couldn't say the pledge because of their beliefs that they were
subject to mob violence intimidation Supreme Court realize who we made
a mistake in one nine hundred forty three they did something they almost never take
they took
a similar case because they needed something to change their earlier ruling they
reversed its decision in
a ruling called West Virginia State Board of Education versus Barnett one thousand
nine hundred forty three World War two right West Virginia Board of Education
Barnett that public school students were not required to say the pledge in one nine
hundred forty they said they were required to say the pledge then they were
attacked they were discriminated against Supreme Court changed its mind one nine
hundred forty three and said they did not have to say the pledge they concluded
quote that quote compulsory unification of opinion and
a quote violates the First Amendment in
a later opinion the court held that students also are not required to stand for the
pledge that is their constitutional right in decision by the US Supreme Court in
one thousand nine hundred forty three no student has to stand to say the pledge
they can quietly stay at their seats if they wish that is their constitutional
right I didn't decide that you didn't decide that the US Supreme Court decided that
. Now one objection states that
a democratic republic based on freedom of dissent should not required citizens to
pledge allegiance to it in the words we believe in freedom of speech what does that
mean you are free to say what you want to say and you're also free not to speak if
you don't want to and so what the Supreme Court was saying in one nine hundred
forty three you cannot be forced to say the pledge because you cannot be forced to
speak when you do not wish to do so should not require its citizens to pledge
allegiance to it in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution Bill of
Rights First Amendment US Constitution protects one's rights to
refrain from speaking or standing U.S.
Supreme Court you don't have to speak you do not have to stand because standing is
a form of speech Supreme Court rules you don't have to stand you don't have to
say the pledge that's the U.S.
Supreme Court the United States another objection lies in the fact that the people
are most likely to reciting the Pledge every day small children in school
five six seven years old cannot really give their consent or even completely
understand the pledge they are taking what does
a student in grade one understand when they say the pledge of allegiance to them is
just words they're too young to understand the meaning of it many objections have
been re-use since the addition of the phrase quote under God and
a quote to the pledge in one thousand nine hundred fifty four Why why do people
object to the words under God After all you want to say the Pledge. You don't have
to stand you can say the pledge right just don't say the words under God so what's
the big deal here what's the big deal well let's get into that now as we approach
and don't forget the last case on this this year two thousand and thirteen Supreme
Judicial Court of Massachusetts I'm getting there one step at
a time OK many objections have been raised since the addition of the phrase under
God to the pledge in one nine hundred fifty four Chris contend that
a government requiring or promoting the phrase violates protection on the
establishment of religion guaranteed in the Establishment Clause of the First
Amendment there saying the pledge violates the First Amendment of the
US to the US Constitution. We're coming to the end.
The show has shown I believe seven times
a week for the shoulder be shown seven times next week I'm going to do the pledge
of allegiance under God to please be sure to watch. The mission next
week pullbacks the week before spending two weeks on the Pledge of Allegiance
make a speech with the highest pyramid two to steps.